Aerial-mail exchange



W. H. BURTON AND C. J. WILKERSON.

AERIAL MAIL EXCHANGE.

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AERIAL MAIL EXCHANGE.

APPLICATION man FEB. I, 1919.

Patented May 4, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Wig-W A TTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

WILLIAM H. BURTON AND GLAUD J. WILKERSON, OF EAST ST. LOUIS, ILLINOIS.

AERIAL-MAIL EXCHANGE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 4:, 1920.

Application filed February 1, 1919. Serial No. 274,435.

' Improvements in Aerial-Mail Exchanges,

of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to aerial mail exchanges, the broad object inview being to provide means whereby an airplane or other air craft willbe enabled to catch and deliver mail in pouches while in flight therebydoing away with the necessity of making a landing for that purpose.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in thenovel construction, combination and arrangement herein fully described,illustrated and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings?- Figure 1 is a front elevation of theaerial mail exchange.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional elevation on 'i the line 2 2 ofFig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevation on an enlarged scale of the upperportion of the apparatus.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of an airplane, partly in section, showingthe means for catching and delivering a mail pouch.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary elevation of the same showing the releasingposition of the same mechanism.

As illustrated in the drawings, the com plete apparatus in the preferredembodiment thereof, comprises a suitable base 1, and a pair of standardsor posts 2 extending upwardly therefrom and arranged in spaced parallelrelation to each other so as to provide for the necessary clearance toenable an airplane to pass between the masts hereinafter described. andwhich extend upwardly above the top of said posts. The posts orstandards 2 may be equipped with signal lights v3 for use at night andmay also be provided with flag sockets 4 to receive flags 5 or the likesuitable for signaling purposes, said signals being used to advise theaviator when a mail pouch is suspended upon the masts hereinafterdescribed.

In connection with the posts or standards 2 we employ a pair of flexiblemasts 6. Said 7 masts may be composed of any suitable resilient materialsuch as metal, wood or the like and are adapted to be raised and loweredwith respect to the standards or posts 2 in order that the mail pouchindicated at 7 may be raised to the desired altitude preparatory to thesame being'picked up by an airplane. Each of the masts 6 is attached attwo or more points to a sprocket chain 8 and said sprocket chains'passat their lower portions around sprocket wheels 9.0n an elevating shaft10 which is horizontally disposed and journaled in bearings adjacent tothe lower ends of the uprights or posts 2, the shaft 10 being providedwith any suitable operating means 11 such as a crank handle. The chains8 pass at their upper portions over sprocket wheels 12 journaled uponstub shafts 13 projecting inwardly from the posts or standards 2. Abovethe sprocket wheels 12, the masts 6 pass through suitable guides 14 onthe posts 2.

The mail pouch shown at 7 is provided with a supporting eye 15 adaptedto receive and be engaged by a hook 16 shown in the form of a snap hookwhich is attached to a flexible sling or suspending rope or loop 17Attached to the upper extremity of the masts 6 by means of ball andsocket joints 18 are gripping members or devices 19 shown in the form ofspring clasps, the same being adapted to engage'bights 20 in theflexible sling, or loop supporting rope 17 as shown in Figs. 1 and 3whereby the sling is spread in an open position so that it may bereadily grasped or engaged by the collecting or delivering arm carriedby the airplane as will hereinafterappear.

Carried by the air plane or air craft as shown. in Figs. 4 and 5 is apouch catching and delivering arm or lever 20, the same being fixedlysecured to a rock shaft 21 extending transversely of the bottom of thefuselage of the flying machine and journaled in bearing members22'thereon. At its free end, the arm 22 is provided with a catching andretaining hook 23 and is also provided with an oppositely extendingtongue 24 which in mail bag carrying position is engaged and held bymeans of a'spring keeper 25 having spring fingers as shown between whichthe tongue is held and retained. Extending upwardly from the rock shaft21 is an operating arm 26 which is connected by a rod 27 to a manuallyoperable lever 28 mounted within the fuselage of the flying machine andcomprising a thumb latch 29 which engages an arcuate rack 30. Thisenables the lever 28 and the lever 20 to be held in a certain fixedposition preparatory to catching the mail pouch.

tion, a mail pouch to be delivered is placed upon the arm 20 and thetongue 24 of said arm is engaged with the keeper 25. Just beforereaching the station, the aviator operates the lever 29 and therebythrusts the arm 20 to a substantially pendent or vertical positionbeneath the fuselage of the machine. He then directs the craft so thatthe arm 20 will strike the upper portion of the sling 17 causing saidportion of the sling to pass over the hook 23. In moving the arm or saidlever 20 to the position just referred to, the bag for delivery isreleased from the arm as soon as the tongues 24 leave the keeper 25. Thehook 23 then catches I the flexible sling 17 and forcibly jerks the sameaway from the gripping members or devices 19. The masts 6 may then belowered by means of the elevating shaft 10 so that another mail pouchmay be engaged with the grippers 19 preparatory to hoisting the same tothe desired altitude for engagement with the catching arm of thefollowing air craft. It will thus be seen that the mail may be picked upand delivered by an air plane While in natural flight and without thenecessity of effecting an actual landing upon the surface of the ground.

Having thus described the invention, we claim:

1. The combination with an aircraft, of a mail catching and deliveringarm pivotally attached thereto beneath the fuselage, a spring detent forholding said arm in bag holding position, a rock shaft to which said Aarm is fastened, and a manually operable lever for turning said rockshaft.

a catching and retaining hook formed onthe end of said arm, means forholding said arm in bag holding position, and means for adjusting thearm to a delivering position.

4. The combination with an aircraft, of a mail catching and deliveringarm pivotally attached thereto beneath the fuselage, a catching andretaining hook formed on the extremity of said arm, a spring detent forholding said arm in bag holding position, and means for adjusting saidarm to a delivering position. v

5. The combination with an aircraft, of a mail catching and deliveringarm pivotally attached thereto beneath the fuselage, a tongue projectingfrom one end of the arm, a spring detent for engaging said tongue andholding said arm in bag holding position, and means for adjusting saidarm to a delivering position.

6. The combination with an aircraft, of a mail catching and deliveringarm pivotally attached thjereto beneath the fuselage, a catchingandretaining hook on one end of the arm, a tongue on the same end of thearm, means for engaging said tongue for holding said arm in bag holdingposition, and means for adjusting said arm to a delivering position.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures.

WILLIAM H. BURTON. CLAUD J. WILKERSO'N.

